"Here is love, vast as the ocean
Lovingkindness as the flood
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom
Shed for us His precious blood
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten
Throughout Heaven's eternal days".
When we sang this hymn in church this morning someone turned to me and said, "Is this a new song?". They had never sung or heard of this wonderful hymn before!
Its lyrics (well, the first two verses anyway) were written by Welsh preacher and writer William Rees, whilst its melody was written by American Preacher Robert Lowry, a prolific hymn writer. William Williams added its lesser well known third and forth verses. It was originally written in Welsh, but was translated into English by William Edwards who added it to the Baptist Book of Praise in 1900.
It sprung to prominence late one Wednesday evening in Ebenezer Baptist Church, Abertillery, in 1904. A lone voice sang it out as an overflow of the heart after four hours of waiting on God; a meeting of around 1000 people crammed into every nook and cranny of that chapel. It, being widely known as the 'love song of the revival', became the anthem of a move of God which was to see around 100,000 souls swept into the Kingdom of God, 3000 or so in Abertillery alone. The local newspaper, the South Wales Gazette, reported (amongst many other details);
"Drunkards have been soberised, publicans have lost much business, conduct on public streets has been elevated, and the police and magistrates have had quieter times... The bottom of the pits have been utilised as centres for prayer and praise meetings, and there has been a general raising of the standard of public life".
I find stories like these hugely inspiring, and they go to fuel the fire of faith in my spirit for all God is doing and is going to do in our times. It drives me to prayer, and to press deeper into the Holy Spirit. I don't want a repeat of what God has done in the past; I am seeking God for an unprecedented move in which thousands are impacted by the love that the revival hymn talks about. These are exciting times; God is on the move and we're a part of it!
